Reading Language Arts This encompasses listening, oral language development, writing, and reading (including reading readiness).

Students will progress according to their individual level, at their own pace. Activities are flexible and child-centered, designed to meet their unique needs and abilities. In our daily Language Arts program, we will strive to develop: - A love of reading and writing and of quality literature - A language rich environment, involving lots of talking and listening, reading, big books, author studies, poetry, finger plays, and many opportunities to read/write/create. - Story comprehension (discussion, questioning, making a personal connection) - Story sequence (beginning, middle, end) - Understanding of letters, blends, digraphs recognition (sight/sound) - Listening and presentation skills (large and small group situations) - DNealian printing upper and lower case letters. (See DNealian page) - Writing Skills - Students will become both authors and illustrators! The focus of the Kindergarten writing program is development of ideas and the writing process. Therefore inventive spelling and risk-taking is encouraged. - High Frequency Words Reading and Writing. (See the page Kindergarten High Frequency Word Lists you might like to make flashcards and support your child at home to learn these words. It is an expectation that your child will know how to read and write these words by the end of Kindergarten) - Reading skills fluency, accuracy, comprehension, retelling, sequencing, Jolly Phonics/Words Their Way From August to December we will work on the Jolly Phonics program which revises all 26 letters and sounds of the alphabet. We will then learn a variety of blends and digraphs such as th, ch, sh, and

oo, ea, oa for example. Children are expected to become familiar with word families/CVC words (e.g. cat, mat, rat). In January we will start the Words Their Way spelling program. Children will be assessed and will then work with words that are appropriate to their level. The children will be involved with a variety of activities to support their learning to spell these words and similar patterns.

Guided Reading Program During the first few weeks of school, all Kindergarten children will be assessed and placed at an appropriate reading level for guided reading instruction. Teacher assessment is ongoing and children read books at their level. It is an expectation that Kindergarten children will reach an Independent Level 4 by the end of the year. Children will bring home books 3 times a week. Please listen to your child read and ask questions to help develop their comprehension skills. The reading pack will have samples of questions for you to ask. Please sign the accompanying sheet and return the book in the zippy pouch the following day.

Reading Workshop Kindergartners will participate in Reading Workshop 2-3 times per week. During Reading Workshop, the children will meet with the teacher in small groups or as a whole class. The teacher will lead focused mini-lessons on specific reading skills and strategies for each unit. Then the children will have an opportunity to practice these skills and strategies independently and with a partner.

Writing Workshop Writing Workshop follows a similar routine to Reading Workshop. In a whole class setting, 3-4 times per week, the teacher will present focused mini-lessons on specific writing skills and strategies for each unit. The children will then have an opportunity to practice theses skills and strategies in their independent writing. They will also have conferences with their writing partner.

Continuums for Reading and Writing This year we will continue to use reading and writing continuums at SAS. These tools were developed by Bonnie Campbell-Hill, an internationally known educational consultant specializing in the area of literacy instruction and assessment. These continuums are a framework for literacy instruction and assessment and will be used throughout the SAS Elementary. A continuum is like a map showing where students have gone and where they are going. The stages are like signposts along the way. You will hear and see more about these continuums as the year progresses and they are a part of the semester report card.

Essential Agreements for Balanced Literacy in the Kindergarten Classroom

Reading
Read Alouds Teacher or other adult reads to the students. A range of childrens literature is used, including a variety of genres to familiarize children with their features. Favorite texts may be reread many times. The teacher models phrased, fluent reading (read aloud is similar to a bed-time story) Shared Reading Teacher and children reading together, using an enlarged text (big books, poems, songs, products of interactive writing, retellings etc) that all children can see. Students participate and behave like readers, with social support from the group. The teacher explicitly demonstrates skills e.g. word-by-word matching, concepts of print, word choice, punctuation. The book is read multiple times over several days. Modeled Writing An expert, usually the teacher, models what effective writers do. The teacher thinks aloud and models what good writers think about and do while writing. Modeled writing provides children with ideas for writing. It is a way to demonstrate processes and products of writing. Shared Writing The teacher acts as scribe, while inviting students to participate in the process. The students and teacher collaborate to compose text together. Shared writing focuses on writing skills and strategies that the children need. The teacher explicitly demonstrates skills e.g. wordby-word matching, concepts of print, word choice, punctuation.

Writing

Interactive Reading The teacher reads a book or short text stopping at predetermined points to ask students questions. The teacher asks questions that will promote higher order thinking. Questions should help students understand the function of print, as well as literary notions such as plot and character but most importantly questions should promote comprehension and an appreciation for reading

Interactive Writing Students and teacher collaborate to compose text and the pen is shared between them. Teachers model a strategy, while at the same time allowing their students to interact or try their hand with the text. Students may be writing on the chart paper or on individual white boards. The teacher serves as the facilitator of the discussionguiding, modeling, adding, summarizing, confirming, combining, and synthesizing the childrens ideas. Guided Writing Students begin to take control and be responsible for the writing development. The teacher is the coach on the side, teaching a specific skill or strategy. Guided writing is most often done with an individual child or with a small group of children. Independent Writing Students choose their own topics and write their own pieces without teacher support.

Guided Reading The teacher works with a small group of students with similar needs. The teacher selects and introduces new books and supports children reading the whole text to themselves, making teaching points during and after reading. The text is one that the children can almost, but not quite, read on their own. Independent Reading Children read just right books on their own or with partners. This builds confidence and fluency and allows the reader to use strategies with a variety of texts.

Word Study Phonics, Spelling, Grammar & Vocabulary Teachers provide mini-lessons to help children learn more about how letters and words work. This includes phonemic awareness, onset & rimes, blends, rhymes, learning to read and write sight words, opportunities to manipulate letters and make words. Children are encouraged to have a go at spelling words on their own, moving towards conventional spelling when they are ready to do so.